


Dead Hearts

by llamabunnybird



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Alternate Universe - Human, Cafe AU, Eventual Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Nekotalia, The Author Regrets Nothing, Tumblr Prompt, and a bit oblivous, arthur is simply like gtfo, dream scenes, francis is a dork, francis is an artist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-13
Updated: 2015-01-13
Packaged: 2018-03-07 09:48:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3170387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/llamabunnybird/pseuds/llamabunnybird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Francis Bonnefoy has just moved into the perfect apartment, the only problem is the resident ghost with a grudge against the french and a need to resolve some issues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Francis Bonnefoy dropped the last of his boxes on the floor with a sigh. Leaning out the window he waved at the moving van’s owner. “All set up here Al! the check should be on your dash!”

“Gotcha! Thanks man!” came the responding shout,

With a sigh Francis went back to look at the disaster zone that was currently his apartment. Checking to see where his cat was (still hiding under the couch it had for some reason been refusing to be cooperative, maybe it was the fact that he had moved?) Giving the sulking cat a scratch behind the ears despite that he decided to start with the kitchen and began nudging some of the boxes in there with his foot while carrying the other two. 5 minutes later with some calming music playing he was setting up his kitchen.  The fact that the music seemed to cut out occasionally, however, made him frown an make a note about checking with the landlord about the circuitry in the building. Humming happily despite that along with the Harbenara from Carmen he decided (after setting up his wine rack on an unused counter) that once he had finished unpacking at least half his bedroom and the living room he was going to sit with a nice glass of wine. “La amour….la amour….” He sang under his breath as he pushed his bookcase against the wall and started sorting out his stacks of cs, and dvds. *BANG*  something fell in the kitchen. With a sigh Francis stood to look hoping it wasn’t anything expensive.. The giant cookbook that had narrowly missed falling on his wine rack (and upsetting the whole thing)  made no sense. Yes it was on a shelf but the shelf was over the stove... 4 ft _that_ way….. frowning Francis went back to unpacking. He must be forgetting things. It was a shame but he’d figured it would happen one of these days…the body wasn’t forgiving when one got older about the amount of….things he had imbibed in college. Shrugging he finished  the tv section and resolved to hang his paintings up tomorrow. His shift at the café wasn’t until late that evening and he would have plenty of time to finish unpacking. Hunting down his bedroom things he snagged his computer at he went by. He had a feeling the walls were thick enough that he wouldn’t be able to hear it from the bedroom.  Making the bed he continued to hum/sing along not even noticing when it sounded like something else fell in the other room. When he emerged, however, to  grab his glass of wine and a book before bed all of his cds were on the floor and moments later so was he. “owww?” he said to no one in particular hoping against hope he hadn’t cracked any of the cd cases when he slipped on them. Getting up gingerly he looked over to the bookcase, everything else was still on it. : he looked at his cat hiding under the couch “I’m losing it Marie” he said plaintively before “Marie! Did you do this?!” the responding hiss from the blue eyes under his couch confirmed his suspicions. “Bad kitty!!”

And with that he was putting the cds back on the shelf finally getting his glass of burgundy and settling in for the night deciding eventually to sit on the balcony as he did so. It would be nice to people watch and the fresh air would be nice as well. The apartment seemed stuffy. Setting his glass down he quickly found his porch furniture and moments later the balcony had a potted plant a nice metal table/stand for another pot and his drink and two chairs arranged artistically upon it. Sitting on the chair and looking over the railing Francis smiled. He could get used to this.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

_Arthur Kirkland was livid. Not about being dead. (he had made peace with that months ago) no he was livid because some idiot had decided to let a **frog** have his apartment. Obviously the management was losing it. In his day they didn’t let the riffraff in. And not even a smart Frog either he thought huffily, well as huffily as one could be when incorporeal anyone else including the moving boy would notice that **something** seemed hostile but whether thru ignorance or blissful obliviousness the man currently sitting on his balcony didn’t seem to notice. At least the cat seemed reasonably aware of his presence. Not that he was going to do anything about it. He actually liked cats, briefly he wondered who had taken care of Crumpet after he had…died. Pushing the thought away he sat floated sullenly back to the kitchen settling on top of the fridge. _

0o0o0o0o0o0o

Finishing his glass Francis watched the cars below him for a few more minutes before going inside. Peeking under the couch he noticed Marie had moved. “Marie!” he called an answering meow from the bedroom letting him know where she had gone. Peeking into the bedroom he spied her tail sticking out from under the dust ruffle. Rolling his eyes he reached under and retrieved the cat “MEROW!” she hissed her claws catching on his shirt. Petting her head he tried to sooth her. “What’s gotten into you chère ?” he asked he questioningly she just blinked and fluffed up. If he had been paying attention he would have noticed that it was as he walked into the kitchen to get her food, however, he didn’t and so reacted like any normal cat owner would. “Its okay I know this is a strange place but it’s home okay?” by the time they had gotten back to his room with her food and water set up in the corner by the window she had calmed down. Nodding at a job well done Francis got ready for bed himself deviating from his normal boxers only sleepwear to a sleep shirt as well. The apartment was chilly for some reason. He would have to ask about getting the thermostat checked. Burrowing under the covers he grabbed his book off the dresser reading glasses on and moments later was asleep.

Waking up the next morning to the usual face full of fur (Marie liked to snuggle up to human’s faces while asleep) Francis smiled “back to normal then?” he asked the purring cat. When no response was forthcoming he shrugged and rolled out of bed. He had only been able to take a day off from the café and when school started in two weeks he would be back to work as an art teacher. The apartment therefore had an unpacking deadline of that day. His usual morning routine was marred only by the random squiggles on the bathroom mirror. Chalking them up to Marie walking across the counter and brushing the mirror with her tail he ignored it making a mental note to Windex the thing later. Handprints would be annoying.

As he made his morning coffee he hummed softly, pausing as he fed the cat and went to sit on the balcony the morning sun making him smile as he looked out at the people hurrying to work. This would be the perfect place to paint once he got settled.

Unpacking proceeded as planned with only minor issues getting the pictures hung up. For some reason the ones in the living room kept being crooked. Francis was half convinced the wall was simply built crooked. Finally, after 20 minutes with a measuring tape and a level he had the paintings straight. The fact that he had hung up his mother’s old Madonna picture was an unrelated point.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

_Arthur stewed the rest of the day watching the irritating man make himself at home in his apartment. Part of him was sulking because the individual in question was still steadily oblivious to his presence, the other part was that he was remembering how his apartment had looked when he was living there. He missed it. Whatever part of him was stuck here missed it and it hurt. At least he bloody cat noticed him and after the frog left to go (presumably) to work he tried to make friends with the creature. Unsuccessfully. Settling for watching people out the window he left her alone moments later he could hear purring. She had deigned to sit next to him. It would have to do._

_0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0_

Francis sighed as he get off the bus and trudged home. It was 3am the café had closed late and there had been an ‘incident’ with the blender and the hyper Italian that had just been hired. Getting the coffee bean debris out of all the nooks and crannies was probably going to take that poor sucker the rest the of the evening. Francis, however, was going home. Looking up he began counting house numbers. It was going to take him a bit to get used to the new location. Finally spotting his place he paused as his eyes skimmed past his apartment. There silhouetted in the window was a man.

 


	2. Ghosts, Dreams and Frustrated Screams

Francis blinked as he stared up at the window. The person was looking straight back at him. Turning to call the police he looked back to get a good description. The person was gone. Stopping he put his phone back in his pocket, took a deep breath, and then let himself into the entry way to the apartment building. Pausing to see if he heard footsteps he slipped up the stairs to his apartment and counting to 10 steadied himself before he burst into the room. There was no one there the only thing out of the ordinary was Marie looking at him as if he had lost his mind. Maybe he had he thought ruefully as he quickly checked his apartment for the intruder. One empty apartment later he was getting ready for bed. the incident chalked up to tiredness and stress and a new place. The flickering lights as he settled onto the bed were ignored with a mumbled "need to talk to the landlord about that" and with that he was asleep. 

* * *

 

_Arthur looked at Francis appraisingly as he slept. He was the first person that had /actually/ seen him. No one else had ever noticed enough. or if they had they still hadn't seen /him/. Floating down he sat on the bed. Marie hissed at him. "Oh stop i'm not going to hurt him" he protested "I just want to see if i can talk to him!" the cat did not seem impressed. Blocking the thought that he was trying to impress a cat because god wouldn't that make his already depressing afterlife even more pathetic? He tentatively poked Francis's head with his finger...._

*Francis was sitting in the plaza Antonio lived near. The fountain near by  filled with children and one friend "Gilbert can't you get him out of there?!" 

"You do it!" came the responding shout

Francis laughed  tipping his head back to enjoy the sunshine.  

Arthur blinked as the sun hit his face. Where was he? The laughing children made him turn he seemed to be in a cafe. Trying to spot Francis (this was his dream so he must be here) he tripped over a messenger bag on the ground hidden in the shadow of a chair almost falling into a person's lap.

Francis blinked as he was suddenly presented with an armful of an angrily sputtering Englishman. "Hello?" 

"Your bloody bag is a hazard to people!" snapped Arthur in reply. Quickly righting himself. "Oh good it's you" he added as an after thought.

Francis looked at him confused "you're looking for me? Oh god is this about last night?! I swear it wasn't my idea Antonio had a bird and...." he started gesturing to the other two. 

Arthur rolled his eyes "Listen frog whatever you did i don't give a damn i just want you out of my apartment" 

"Your apartment?" 

"MY APARTMENT" came the responding shout. 

And then everything faded to black * 

* * *

 

Francis woke up late the next morning with a crick in his neck and a sudden urge to call his friends. As he padded out into the kitchen to make coffee he noticed his pictures were crooked  _again_ sighing he added it to the list of things he needed to ask his landlord about. closing his eyes as he sipped his coffee he smiled. Despite the weirdness this morning he was still thrilled with the new apartment. He didn't have to work until later maybe he would paint. Marie's purring caught his attention she almost never did so unless she was being petted but there she was sitting happily sitting in the window basking in the sunlight and purring away. Smiling he walked over scratching behind her ears. "Glad you are happy here too" he said softly. She flinched in surprise as if she hadn't even noticed his approach. Francis looked at her concerned and then shrugging let it go. She wasn't the most attentive of cats after all. Leaving her to watch the birds he dressed for the day and unpacked his art supplies he decided to sketch instead of paint sitting on the balcony and doing quick sketches of the birds and passersby. He relaxed, he had missed doing this at his last place. humming softly he started sketching the balcony railing taking time to get the shading just right. The sudden ringing of his telephone made him startle but thankfully not smear his picture. "Bonjour?" he answered  _  
_

"Hey it's Alfred! you forgot a box! Can i drop it off soon!?" 

"Oh I am so sorry!" Francis was mortified "Of course you can! What did I forget?!”

The other seemed rueful “I think it’s my fault actually I had run out of space in the back and had put a box upfront”

“It’s okay” Francis said “It happens”

“I should be over in about 10 then” came the reply before the other hung up.

Standing and stretching Francis winced as his joints cracked “dear god I am getting old” he muttered as he went back inside. Looking around he realized what he had forgotten and then mentally berated himself because how _could he_ all of his friend’s knickknacks they had picked up jointly on their travels that’s what he had left. Wincing as he thought of how outraged Gilbert would be he thanked whoever was up there that Alfred had noticed the box. Making more coffee he pulled out some muffins for when the other arrived. It was near lunch time and Alfred was a friend of a friend and had remembered his box muffins were a thank you in Francis’s mind. 20minutes later he reconsidered that. Alfred was explaining how ghosts apparently were to blame for half of lifes problems. Sipping his coffee Francis tuned him out until “and they make lights go all flickery”

“wait what?!” he tuned back into the conversation

“Ghosts! They make lights flicker and things fall and…..”

Francis had a queasy feeling in his stomach. “Alfred I need to get ready for work. Thank you so much for dropping the box off!” despite the clear dismissal it still took a good 5 minutes for the other to leave. Sighing as he finished waving goodbye Francis turned to the apartment he now considered haunted. “Hello?”

All he heard in response was a snickering laugh

“Non” he said “I am not dealing with this. Non!” and with that he flopped onto the couch pulling a pillow over his face as he screamed frustratedly. “Cheap apartment, center of town, first month half rent of COURSE there would be a catch!”  there seemed to be more snickering at that.

Sitting up he asked sharply “Can’t you just go away”

The silence was reply enough.

 


End file.
